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NNE Winter: just can't compete with Maple Hollow.


eekuasepinniW

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Took some pics this morning at the hydro dam here but overall I think last time was a bit more impressive. They were not letting as much through the smaller channel this time. However the overall flow on the river was more intense. I took some pics until my damn lens fogged

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Grand total of 3.65" here after the 0.35" topped it off last night.

Bright blue skies now.

A CoCoRAHS station in Richmond had 3.44" in 24 hrs and like 5" in 2-days.

Up at 1,550ft at Stowe Mtn Ops the 2-day total is 4.52"....same CoCoRAHS Stratus gauge.

Had 2.01" yesterday morning and then another 2.51" this morning.

The automatic station across the road in the base area recorded like half that amount though. Do those things underestimate heavy tropical rains?

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Congrats sauna houses in rural VT.

These are sort of Burlington suburb/commuter towns, but probably seems rural to you haha.

Anyway dude the video my buddy posted to FB of the sauna house was amazing. Water was up on the deck and you'd die if you fell in. Muddy torrent. Amazing what heavy rain can do in hilly terrain.

Lots of road closures in and around the mountains. I've seen photos from Richmond of trees stacked up on bridge crossings but can't save them on my phone for some reason.

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These are sort of Burlington suburb/commuter towns, but probably seems rural to you haha.

Anyway dude the video my buddy posted to FB of the sauna house was amazing. Water was up on the deck and you'd die if you fell in. Muddy torrent.

Lots of road closures in and around the mountains.

 

That house looks a little too close to comfort to the water, but it's a sick spot.

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IIRC, you've had 3 straight meh Januarys, "hardening" the plateau.  My last 3 also look meh, at least as a goup, averaging 15.9" vs my 17-yr avg of 19.8" for Jan.  Of course, that 3-yr run includes 36.8" this year, by 9.3" my snowiest Jan here, but it followed years where Jan brought 5.7" and 5.1".  Generally the median snowfall numbers are less than the average, because the top end is unbounded.  January here has a median 3.1" higher than the avg, thanks to 9 of 17 years landing in the range 22.6" to 27.5".

 

As my snowfall data set has grown over the past several seasons, it really looked like the story was going to be fairly straightforward, with the midwinter months of December, January, and February all converging on snowfall averages of ~40” each.  I think I recall seeing data for ski areas around here indicating that snowfall was basically the same during those midwinter months (PF may know if that’s the case).  That made sense, because presumably it’s cold enough out in the mountainous areas for all storms to be snow during that period, aside from the rogue system cutting to the west (and the chance for one of those systems is presumably the same throughout any of those months).  If anything, since we’re a bit warmer at our site than the higher elevations, I’d expect January snowfall to be greater than it is for the other two months.  If you look at the snowfall data for BTV (1981-2010 averages), the three months are certainly in the same range, but a January peak is present:

 

BTV mean snowfall

October:  0.3

November:  5.1

December:  17.9

January:  21.1

February:  16.4

March:  15.8

April:  4.6

 

Then these past three winters came along, with January snowfall averaging roughly half that 40” amount.  That’s really cut down the overall January snowfall average into the mid 30s, while the other two months have held pat right around 40”.  Based on the mountain and BTV data, I still think these past three seasons have just been a coincidental dip, and January will come back up to match Dec and Feb.  We’ve had Januarys in the 50-60” range, but it’s been a while since we’ve had one of those cold, moisture-laden Januarys, and they’re starting to feel a bit like ancient history.  A case could also be made at our site for December being a higher snowfall month because of the greater lake-effect and upslope potential than vs. later in the winter; I think I’ve heard PF mention something like that before.  Of those three months, December certainly appears to be the one with the most moisture available based on my CoCoRaHS data – liquid for December is coming in at ~150% of what January and February have received.

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If anything, since we’re a bit warmer at our site than the higher elevations, I’d expect January snowfall to be greater than it is for the other two months.

 

Maybe, but that's not how it's worked in my neck of the woods, with essentially zero upslope but generally heavier synoptic precip.  Except for '13 and '14 (and the dry, cold 2004), January has been a consistent snowfall month, but has lacked in really big events, at least until this past 27-28 storm.  That was my first snowfall in 17 Januarys to reach even 14".  I've recorded 31 events of 10"+ thru 17 winters, and by month - N: 1; D: 7; J: 3; F: 8; M: 9; A: 3.  Prior to this winter it would've been N: 0 and J: 2.

 

My sig shows a large advantage for Feb, one that's actually understated due to its shortness.  Average daily snowfall for my 4 winter months is, D: 0.63"; J: 0.64"; F: 0.79"; M: 0.56".  Farmington over its 123 winters has the following avg:

DEC...18.08"

JAN.....21.10"

FEB....20.41"

MAR...15.86"

Year...89.49"

Slight advantage to Jan for total, Feb still tops for daily avg.  Their 1981-2010 records include the awful 1980s, when Feb averaged only 12.65" per year.  Only March in the 1940s (12.29") has a lower decadal avg than that.  For 1991-onward (Year avg up to 91.62"), Feb stands forth:

DEC...19.37"

JAN.....20.74"

FEB....21.97"

MAR...18.43"

 

My subjective impression is that Jan, though colder on avg (13.9 vs 16.9 at my place) seems to be more vulnerable to cutters than is Feb.  They are nearly equal in avg precip, while March gets about 0.8" more than either, and Dec about 0.7" more than March.

 

Just looked at my numbers for recent years, and the most recent cutter in Feb was in 2009, while Jan has had at least one in each of the past 4 years (3 in 2014) plus one in 2010, even excluding the retro-bomb, which began acting like one even while centered to the east.

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BTV rainfall map... I'll be curious what the Mansfield Co-Op comes in with today as they were around 3" yesterday afternoon before the last burst of real heavy rain.  We had 4.52" at the base of the Mountain, and there's certainly an axis there of fairly heavy totals.

 

Nittany, great work on the map if that was you.

 

10421311_879643665440869_576423577000545

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As my snowfall data set has grown over the past several seasons, it really looked like the story was going to be fairly straightforward, with the midwinter months of December, January, and February all converging on snowfall averages of ~40” each.  I think I recall seeing data for ski areas around here indicating that snowfall was basically the same during those midwinter months (PF may know if that’s the case).  That made sense, because presumably it’s cold enough out in the mountainous areas for all storms to be snow during that period, aside from the rogue system cutting to the west (and the chance for one of those systems is presumably the same throughout any of those months).  If anything, since we’re a bit warmer at our site than the higher elevations, I’d expect January snowfall to be greater than it is for the other two months.  If you look at the snowfall data for BTV (1981-2010 averages), the three months are certainly in the same range, but a January peak is present:

 

BTV mean snowfall

October:  0.3

November:  5.1

December:  17.9

January:  21.1

February:  16.4

March:  15.8

April:  4.6

 

Then these past three winters came along, with January snowfall averaging roughly half that 40” amount.  That’s really cut down the overall January snowfall average into the mid 30s, while the other two months have held pat right around 40”.  Based on the mountain and BTV data, I still think these past three seasons have just been a coincidental dip, and January will come back up to match Dec and Feb.  We’ve had Januarys in the 50-60” range, but it’s been a while since we’ve had one of those cold, moisture-laden Januarys, and they’re starting to feel a bit like ancient history.  A case could also be made at our site for December being a higher snowfall month because of the greater lake-effect and upslope potential than vs. later in the winter; I think I’ve heard PF mention something like that before.  Of those three months, December certainly appears to be the one with the most moisture available based on my CoCoRaHS data – liquid for December is coming in at ~150% of what January and February have received.

 

At home I only have monthly data for the past 8 seasons, but I ran that anyway to find the averages and February stands out as the highest snowfall month.

 

For Stowe upper elevation snowfall:

 

Past 8 seasons, the average is 293" (18 year average is 310").

 

November: 34"

December: 64"

January: 63"

February: 75"

March: 45"

April: 14"  (though only during our operating schedule)

 

So for the past 8 years, February has far out-paced the other months in terms of average.  But looking at the actual data, February has a low variance lately while the other months have some wide swings.  Here is the ranges of lowest to highest month:

 

November: 12-50"

December: 39-106"

January: 32-111"

February: 63-93"

March: 11-66"

April: 3-20"

 

So if you look at that, February's range is very small compared to that of December or January or even March.  So lately, February has been the steady and reliable month while Jan and Dec are all over the place, from under 40" to over 100". 

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BTV rainfall map... I'll be curious what the Mansfield Co-Op comes in with today as they were around 3" yesterday afternoon before the last burst of real heavy rain.  We had 4.52" at the base of the Mountain, and there's certainly an axis there of fairly heavy totals.

 

Nittany, great work on the map if that was you.

 

10421311_879643665440869_576423577000545

 

:thumbsup:

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BTV rainfall map... I'll be curious what the Mansfield Co-Op comes in with today as they were around 3" yesterday afternoon before the last burst of real heavy rain. We had 4.52" at the base of the Mountain, and there's certainly an axis there of fairly heavy totals.

Looks like the summit total for the Coop was 4.87", really not too much different than the 4.52" recorded at the base area.

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At home I only have monthly data for the past 8 seasons, but I ran that anyway to find the averages and February stands out as the highest snowfall month.

 

For Stowe upper elevation snowfall:

 

Past 8 seasons, the average is 293" (18 year average is 310").

 

November: 34"

December: 64"

January: 63"

February: 75"

March: 45"

April: 14"  (though only during our operating schedule)

 

So for the past 8 years, February has far out-paced the other months in terms of average.  But looking at the actual data, February has a low variance lately while the other months have some wide swings.  Here is the ranges of lowest to highest month:

 

November: 12-50"

December: 39-106"

January: 32-111"

February: 63-93"

March: 11-66"

April: 3-20"

 

So if you look at that, February's range is very small compared to that of December or January or even March.  So lately, February has been the steady and reliable month while Jan and Dec are all over the place, from under 40" to over 100". 

I thought the recent March's snowfall have been sucky (thats a term of art).

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I thought the recent March's snowfall have been sucky (thats a term of art).

 

March snowfall, at my place anyway, has been much the most variable of the 4 snowy months.  By far my snowiest month in 17 winters here is the 55.5" of March 2001, while March 2010 had only 0.6", edging out the "snowless" December of 1999 for least of any DJFM.   There's been 3 years with March snowfall in the 30s (only one since 2005, so your "recent" comment seems valid), but none in the 20s, and in addition to the abysmal 2010, there have been years when March produced 3.4" and 2.8".

 

Edit:  Comparing coeficients of variation for DJFM:

 

DEC....61%

JAN.....42%  (Was 39% prior to this year's 36.8")

FEB....52%

MAR...79%

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